This is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance (and for this we labor and strive) that we have put our hope in the living God who is the Savior of all, and especially of those who believe.
1 Timothy 3:9-10

Monday, August 31, 2015

Honor your
father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God
is giving you. Exodus 20:12 NIV

To honor
means to respect and to appreciate, but actually goes much deeper as well. It
means to add reputation to or to increase another’s value. When you are to
honor your parents, it means so much more than to obey. That is to increase
their good name by having one of your own.

What is
it like to call you a son or daughter? Can someone be proud of you? I’m not
talking about that love a mother or father naturally has for a child. I’m
talking about bragging rights, and not about accomplishments either. I remember
attending one of my son’s elementary school parent-teacher conferences. I was
filled with joy as the teacher showed us paper after paper with 100 or A+ on
it. Both my boys have done so well in school academically, but I may have been
the only parent that night to ask the questions of my son’s teacher, “What
about his character? Does he get along with others? Does he show compassion?
Does he strive to make friends with his classmates?” And I even asked her, “Can
you tell that he is a believer?” Praise God, I had something to brag about!

Isn’t
that what we should aim for: to have a reputation of being like Christ? Is that
a noble goal? Could you see this as a necessary part of any parent’s plan for
their child’s future? In this all-for-me world, shouldn’t we focus a little
more on character?

I praise
God often for granting me the privilege of being raised in a Christian family.
Both sides of my parents have a long history of being active in church, loving
God, and serving Him faithfully. What will I contribute to that legacy? Will it
continue or end with me?

You too
have an awesome responsibility! Your actions and your heart will determine what
is said about your children and your children’s children for generations to
come. You are deciding now, based on the way you live your life, what the
future will be like for your descendants’. The Bible states over and over again
that blessings are passed on by generations, as are the curses of God. Which
are you leaving behind?

If your
reputation was being built on just the last week, last month, or last year,
what would it say about you? Would it honor your mother and father? Would it
add to the value of your name?

This
fifth commandment is a tough one if we strive to live up to it. By the grace of
God, may we accomplish His will as we live our lives, striving to be like Him,
and create in our hearts a desire to make Him Lord of everything? Your
reputation is at stake! And the honor of your mother and father!

Sunday, August 30, 2015

INTRO: In a world where No one tells me what to
do and I am my own authority, the Ten Commandments quickly find their way to
the trash heap. For most of us, the words surrounding law—rule, restriction,
regulation, requirement, code, commandment, covenant, must, ought, shall,
will—are simply not our favorite words to hear. They are parental words, court
words, conflict words. We use them only when we have to; otherwise, we
willingly hold them at a distance.

But
the Old Testament people of God had a different take on law. They took their
copy of the law their God had given them, clutched it to their chests, and
danced with it. They observed it daily in their relationships and required
their young to memorize it. And when a copy of the law had grown ragged and
old, they had a special ceremony to retire it. They buried it with all the
dignity of a beloved grandparent’s body.

Words
from the introduction to the book: Dancing with the Law: The Ten Commandments.
By Dr. Dan Boone

"Honor
your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the
LORD your God is giving you.” Exodus 20:12

The first 4 commandments deal with our relationship withGOD. This is
appropriate, because we are to love God first. . .There’s one God; worship him
alone. Worship the Creator – not the created. Have no idols. Our worship of him
begins by how we speak of him, not taking the Lord’s name in vain, and honoring
him with a day of Sabbath rest to worship him. Jesus said, “Love the Lord your God with all
your heart. . .” was the first commandment, and most important. These are the VERTICAL commands..

The final 6 commandments deal with our relationships with OTHERS. But
the second most important commandment is to “Love your neighbor as yourself.” So it’s appropriate that the final 6
commandments deal with our relationships with others. These are the HORIZONTAL commands. The first four
commandments are about loving God, and as a result of God’s love for you and
you loving God, commandments five through ten are about loving your neighbor,
starting with your parents.

It’s no shock that this command would make its way into the
Ten Commandments: Set Free to Live Free.
As we start the commandments that deal with how we relate to other people, we
begin first with how we deal with one of our most important relationships,
because how we deal with our close relationships will necessarily effect how we
deal with others we are in relationships with. Children who learn to honor
their parents are WAY better off.

ILL: From:
Today’s Christian Woman: When my
daughter lost her last baby tooth, I was weary of the Tooth Fairy and decided
it was time to dispel this childhood myth. "Kelli," I said, "You
know how the Easter Bunny is really Mommy, and Santa Claus is, too?"
"Yes," she replied, a bit warily. "Well, there’s one more person
who is really me. Can you guess who that is?" Slowly, Kelli’s eyes grew
big as saucers and her mouth dropped open. In a small, awe-filled voice, she
said, "God?"

But our world today doesn’t value this commandment. When
you watch TV shows, what are most parents like? In our culture today a lot of
parenting is based on the teaching of Sigmund Freud, whose whole premise was, “We need to kill our father to liberate
ourselves and live free,” which according to the Bible is the essence of
all our trouble, that we’ve separated ourselves from our Heavenly Father.

And
as we separate ourselves from our earthly mother and father, it’s to our own
destruction and demise, because when we choose to sin, we choose to suffer.
Today culture has restructured marriage and made acceptable marriage between
two individuals of the same sex.

I
believe the ideal family unit is a mother and a father. Now, even today, that’s controversial. Even
today, that would be called bigoted and discriminatory, but that’s God’s
design, that’s God’s decree, that’s God’s intent, that’s God’s plan.

Why
you should honor your parents:

1.
Honoring parents is a pathway to God’s BLESSINGS .

"Honor your father and your mother, as the Lord your
God has commanded you, so that you may live long and that it may go well with
you in the land the Lord your God is giving you."

Deuteronomy
5:16

2.
Honoring parents teaches your kids how to treat YOU .

“Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man
sows, that he will also reap.” Galatians 6:7
(NKJV)

You realize of course that the example that you set in how
you relate and deal with your parents will be the one followed by your
children. We cut a groove in our children by the way we treat our parents.

“Children,
obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. Honor your father and
mother." Ephesians 6:1-2

The
application for parents: This is the
AT HOME stage.

You’ve got to MAKE
YOUR
CHILD do it.
If you fail to make your child honor and obey you, it is like letting them
play in the road!

One way you have to do this: CORPORAL punishment. – Disciple…

Kids who have temper fits and show other bad behavior when
they’re young may end up in prison cells when they’re older, says a new British
study... they found that certain childhood behaviors were associated with later
criminal behavior. . . habitually disobedient children had a 170% higher risk.
. . Tantrums were linked to a 261% increased risk of an adult conviction for
violence...

Do I advocate “spanking”?
In full disclosure – Sharron carried a wooden spoon in her purse for a
reason. I would say today, be creative:

Does
your child slam the door when she's angry? You might tell her, "It's
obvious that you don't know how to close a door properly. To learn, you
will open and close this door, calmly and completely, 100 times."

If
your child likes to stomp off to his room or stomp around in anger, send
him outside to the driveway and tell him to stomp his feet for one minute.
He'll be ready to quit after about 15 seconds, but make him stomp even
harder.

The
same goes for throwing fits. Tell your child to go to her room to continue
her fit. She isn't allowed to come out and she has to keep crying for 10
minutes. Ten minutes is an awfully long time, and it's no fun if your
parents tell you to cry.

Another
way to handle temper tantrums is to simply say, "That is too
disruptive for this house. You may continue your fit in the backyard. When
you're finished, you are welcome to come back inside." When there
isn't an audience, the thrill of throwing a temper tantrum is gone.

If
your child asks for something and then argues or throws a fit when you
tell her no, tell her that no matter what she asks for, from that moment
on the answer will be an automatic no until she can accept the answer
"no" respectfully.

I
heard of a grandmother who was buying shoes for her 10-year-old grandson.
He threw a fit when he realized he wouldn't get the more expensive pair.
So she leaned down and whispered in his ear, "If you continue to
embarrass me, I will kiss you all over your face right here in the middle
of the store." He stopped immediately.

2. Honor your parents by valuing their ADVICE .

"A wise son heeds his father’s instruction..."
Proverbs 13:1

ILL: When
I was a boy of 14, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the
old man around. But when I got to be 21, I was astonished at how much the old
man had learned. ~ Mark
Twain

This can be as simple as a phone call, a card, a letter. .
. let them know what they mean to you!

At the funeral of a father or mother, I’ve never heard
anyone say, “I wish I had spent less
time telling them that I loved them and appreciated what they did for me.”

4.
Honor your parents by helping meet their NEEDS .

"But if any widow has children or grandchildren, let
them first learn to show their commitment to God at home and to repay their
parents; for this is good and acceptable before God.....But if anyone does not
provide for his own, and especially for those of his household, he has denied
the faith and is worse than an unbeliever." 1
Timothy 5:8 (NKJV)

5. Honor
your parents by FORGIVING their FAILINGS
.

"If you let the sun go down while you are still angry,
the devil is going to have a foothold in your life.” Ephesians
4:26-27

Forgiveness
is not a FEELING. It
is a choice to let go of ANGER and the desire for REVENGE .

CONCLUSION: Now I
realize that there are probably some of you here who are all knotted up inside,
the stomach acid is boiling and you’re thinking, “Like that’s ever going to
happen, after the way they treated me.” And unfortunately that is the reality
of today that whenever you speak about parents there is someone in the group
who was abused, physically, emotionally or sexually while they were growing up.
Some of you may have grown up in the homes of alcoholics or workaholics,
abusive or neglectful perhaps you had parents who were distant or cold and
uncaring. And you want to cry out “how can I honor people who are un-honorable?”
“How do I honor someone who never once honored me?”

What is God asking of you this morning, is God asking you
to put on a mask and pretend it never happened? No, He is not. He knows how sorry your parents were! But he’s here
this morning to ask you to take this step toward honoring your parents –
forgive. Give up your right to hold bitterness and a desire for revenge.
Give up your right to always think of them with contempt.

Then, ask God to begin using you as a channel for his love.
You can’t create love in your own heart. God is the source of love. Ask him to
simply pour his love for them into your heart . . . and OVER TIME, as you
continually make the choice to forgive, you’ll sense an attitude change in your
heart. Then you’ll truly be
honoring your parents. . .

Closing
ILL:
The Story from the Grimm Brother’s fairy tales about “the Grandfather and His
Grandson” illustrates how vital it is that we honor our parents through our
care. The Old Grandfather and His Grandson by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm

Once
upon a time there was a very, very old man. His eyes had grown dim, his ears
deaf, and his knees shook. When he sat at the table, he could scarcely hold a
spoon. He spilled soup on the tablecloth, and, beside that, some of his soup
would run back out of his mouth.

His
son and his son’s wife were disgusted with this, so finally they made the old
grandfather sit in the corner behind the stove, where they gave him his food in
an earthenware bowl, and not enough at that. He sat there looking sadly at the
table, and his eyes grew moist. One day his shaking hands could not hold the
bowl, and it fell to the ground and broke. The young woman scolded, but he said
not a word. He only sobbed. After that they bought him a wooden bowl and made
him eat from it.

Once
when they were all sitting there, the little grandson of four years pushed some
pieces of wood together on the floor.

"What
are you making?" asked his father.

"Oh,
I’m making a little trough for you and mother to eat from when I’m big."

The
man and the woman looked at one another and then began to cry. They immediately
brought the old grandfather to the table, and always let him eat there from
then on. And if he spilled a little, they did not say a thing.

Saturday, August 29, 2015

As we prepare for
worship tomorrow at North Raleigh Church of the Nazarene we continue in the current teaching series on the Ten Commandments. On this last Sunday of August it is a great time to invite someone to join you for church. Last week we welcomed several first time guest and our children's ministry experienced a true resurgence. Our offering was the highest amount in months. God is moving in our midst.

Prepare your heart to gather tomorrow in the presence of God and prepare for moving of the Holy Spirit. Here is the order of worship we have prepared for tomorrow:

We pause in our singing to talk directly to God and bring Him our praise and adoration - our thanksgiving and joys. We come before Him in faith to ask His perfect will to be accomplished in and through our lives - for Him!Oh God, build Your church, I pray.....

Children owe their parents one thing. And no, it's not love. The Fifth
Commandment understands that sometimes it's difficult or even impossible to
love your parents. But it's almost always possible to honor them.

Tomorrow I will attempt to explain what that means and why it's so important. And consider this: if
your children see you honoring your parents they are much more likely to honor
you.

Friday, August 28, 2015

Death is inevitable, yet the loss of a close friend or
family member always showers us with a range of emotions. One day we might
desperately try to avoid the pain, anxiety and feelings of helplessness we feel
when a loved one dies. Other days, we feel like life has returned to normal—at
least until we realize that our life has changed irrevocably.

Despite the gamut of emotions we feel, grieving for a loved
one helps us cope and heal. The intense, heart-breaking anguish indicates that
a deep connection has been severed. Without a doubt, grieving is painful. But
it is also necessary.

Going forward doesn’t mean forgetting about the loved one
who died. Enjoying life again doesn’t imply that the person is no longer
missed. Piecing together your shattered emotions doesn’t mean you, somehow,
betray a friend or family member. It simply means that your grief has run its
course.

While no single pathway through grief exists, people do
share common responses.

In 1969, psychiatrist Elisabeth Kübler-Ross introduced what
became known as the “five stages of grief,” which represent feelings of those
who have faced death and tragedy.1

Based on her years of working with terminal cancer
patients, Kübler-Ross proposed the following pattern of phases many people
experience:

1.Denial: “This can’t be happening to me.”

2.Anger: “Why is this happening? Who is to
blame?”

3.Bargaining: “Make this not happen, and in
return I will ____.”

4.Depression: “I’m too sad to do anything.”

5.Acceptance: “I’m at peace with what has
happened.”

Although these are common responses to loss, there is no
structure or timetable for the grieving process. That said, understanding grief
and its common symptoms are helpful when grieving. Recognizing the difference
between trauma and depression is also beneficial.

Besides understanding how stress can take a toll on us
physically, emotionally and spiritually, we need to understand the practical
guidelines to ease the process. These include taking care of our bodies,
spending time with others and reaching out to the church community.

Finally, there will come a time when someone close to us
experiences a significant loss. Knowing how to respond to a grieving friend is
a good first step in acting as a reliable companion.

The death of a loved one is a shattering experience with
far-reaching implications. As difficult as the loss may be, it is possible to
move forward with hope for the future.

Wednesday, August 26, 2015

Prayer Has Its Reasons

Christian philosopher and scientist Blaise Pascal (1623-62)
wrote, "The heart has its reasons of which reason knows nothing … "

This article proposes that prayer has its reasons. Why we
pray is important, as is prayer itself. What follows are twelve reasons to
pray.

1. God's Word Calls Us to Pray

One key reason to pray is because God has commanded us to
pray. If we are to be obedient to His will, then prayer must be part of our
life in Him. Where does the Bible call us to prayer? Several passages are
relevant:

"And
pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and
requests." –Ephesians 6:18

"Do
not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition,
with thanksgiving, present your requests to God." –Philippians 4:6

"Devote
yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful." –Colossians 4:2

"Pray
continually" -1 Thessalonians 5:17

"I
urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and
thanksgiving be made for everyone …" -1 Timothy 2:1

Prayer is an act of obedience. God calls us to pray and we
must respond.

2. Jesus Prayed Regularly

Why did Jesus pray? One reason he prayed was as an example
so that we could learn from him. The Gospels are full of references to the
prayers of Christ, including these examples:

"After
he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray."
–Matthew 14:23

"Then
Jesus went with his disciples to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to
them, 'Sit here while I go over there and pray.'" –Matthew 26:36

"Very
early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the
house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed." –Mark 1:35

"But
Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed." –Luke 5:16

"One
of those days Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray, and spent the
night praying to God." –Luke 6:12

"Then
Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always
pray and not give up." –Luke 18:1

3. Prayer is How We Communicate with God

Prayer allows us to worship and praise the Lord. It also
allows us to offer confession of our sins, which should lead to our genuine
repentance. Moreover, prayer grants us the opportunity to present our requests
to God. All of these aspects of prayer involve communication with our Creator.
He is personal, cares for us, and wants to commune with us through prayer.

"
… if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray
and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from
heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land." -2
Chronicles 7:14

Isaiah
wrote, "He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the
weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall;
but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar
on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and
not be faint" (Isaiah 40:29-31).

Hebrews
4:15-16 reads, "For we do not have a high priest who is unable to
sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in
every way, just as we are - yet was without sin. Let us then approach the
throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find
grace to help us in our time of need."

Prayer is not just about asking for God's blessings –
though we are welcome to do so – but it is about communication with the living
God. Without communication, relationships fall apart. So, too, our relationship
with God suffers when we do not communicate with Him.

4. Prayer Allows us to Participate in God's
Works

Does God need our help? No. He is all powerful and in
control of everything in His creation. Why do we need to pray? Because prayer
is the means God has ordained for some things to happen. Prayer, for instance,
helps others know the love of Jesus. Prayer can clear human obstacles out of
the way in order for God to work. It is not that God can't work without our
prayers, but that He has established prayer as part of His plan for
accomplishing His will in this world.

5. Prayer Gives us Power Over Evil

Can physical strength help us overcome obstacles and
challenges in the spiritual realm? No, "For our struggle is not against
flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the
powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the
heavenly realms" (Ephesians 6:12). But in prayer even the physically weak
can become strong in the spiritual realm. As such, we can call upon God to
grant us power over evil.

"For
physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all
things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come." -1 Timothy 4:8

"Watch
and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing,
but the body is weak." – Matthew 26:41

6. Prayer is Always Available

This point is covered separately in another article. But,
in short, another reason to pray is because prayer is always available to us.
Nothing can keep us from approaching God in prayer except our own choices
(Psalm 139:7; Romans 8:38-39).

7. Prayer Keeps us Humble Before God

Humility is a virtue God desires in us (Proverbs 11:2;
22:4; Micah 6:8; Ephesians 4:2; James 4:10). Prayer reminds us that we are not
in control, but God is, thus keeping us from pride.

"Therefore,
whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of
heaven." –Matthew 18:4

8. Prayer Grants us the Privilege of
Experiencing God

Through prayer we obtain an experiential basis for our
faith. We do not ignore the intellect or reasons for faith, but prayer makes
our experience of God real on an emotional level.

9. Answered Prayer is a Potential Witness

If our prayer is answered, it can serve as a potential
witness for those who doubt.

10. Prayer Strengthens the Bonds Between
Believers

Prayer not only strengthens our relationship with God, but
when we pray with other believers, prayer also strengthens the bonds between
fellow Christians.

11. Prayer Can Succeed Where Other Means Have
Failed

Have all your options been exhausted? Prayer can succeed
where other means have failed. Prayer should not be a last resort, but our
first response. But there are times when sincere prayer must be offered in
order to accomplish something.

12. Prayer Fulfills Emotional Needs

Do we need God through prayer? Yes! We were made to
function best, emotionally, in a prayerful relationship with God. As C.S. Lewis
put it, "God designed the human machine to run on Himself. He Himself is
the fuel our spirits were designed to burn, or the food our spirits were designed
to feed on. There is no other." [2]

Prayer, then, has its reasons, and they are many.

[1] Unless
otherwise noted, all Scripture quotations are from the New International
Version of the Bible.

Robert Velarde
is author of Conversations with C.S. Lewis (InterVarsity
Press), The Heart of Narnia (NavPress), and primary author of The
Power of Family Prayer (National Day of Prayer Task Force). He studied
philosophy of religion and apologetics at Denver Seminary and is pursuing
graduate studies in philosophy at Southern Evangelical Seminary.

JOIN US THIS EVENING AT 6:30 FOR OUR WEEKLY PRAYER ENCOUNTER AT NORTH RALEIGH CHURCH OF THE NAZARENE!

Tuesday, August 25, 2015

When we are afraid, the least we can do is pray to God. But our
Lord has a right to expect that those who name His name have an underlying
confidence in Him. God expects His children to be so confident in Him that in
any crisis they are the ones who are reliable. Yet our trust is only in God up
to a certain point, then we turn back to the elementary panic-stricken prayers
of those people who do not even know God. We come to our wits’ end, showing
that we don’t have even the slightest amount of confidence in Him or in His
sovereign control of the world. To us He seems to be asleep, and we can see
nothing but giant, breaking waves on the sea ahead of us.

“…O you of little faith!” What a stinging pain must have shot
through the disciples as they surely thought to themselves, “We missed the mark
again!” And what a sharp pain will go through us when we suddenly realize that
we could have produced complete and utter joy in the heart of Jesus by
remaining absolutely confident in Him, in spite of what we were facing.

There are times when there is no storm or crisis in our lives,
and we do all that is humanly possible. But it is when a crisis arises that we
instantly reveal upon whom we rely. If we have been learning to worship God and
to place our trust in Him, the crisis will reveal that we can go to the point
of breaking, yet without breaking our confidence in Him.

We have been talking quite a lot about sanctification, but what
will be the result in our lives? It will be expressed in our lives as a
peaceful resting in God, which means a total oneness with Him. And this oneness
will make us not only blameless in His sight, but also a profound joy to Him.

Monday, August 24, 2015

The Sabbath was a big deal to the Jewish people. It meant
no work, absolutely none. It involved everyone. Rest was demanded; you had no
choice. It was a statement of faith. If you loved God, you observed and honored
the Sabbath.

What’s changed? Has the word of God gone dull? Absolutely
not! The word of God is active, living, never changing! So where do we fit into
this fourth commandment today? We are to keep the Sabbath Holy!

Sabbath means to rest.

First of all, this means we are to
rest. We have somehow determined in this society that it is wrong to rest. We
need to join a committee, plan an activity, sign the kids up for ball (soccer,
basketball and baseball– all at the same time), be reading the latest novel at
all times, fix gourmet meals, compete for the yard-of-the-month club, advance a
career, and be lean, trim men or women of God. Whew, that made me tired just
typing it!

In all the madness is God able to get your attention? Take
some time off, my friend! You deserve a break. Give yourself a rest. Take a
Sabbath for yourself. Slow down! Take time to enjoy life! Take a long walk on a
long pier! Watch the world go by for a while! Be still and know that He is God!

Remember that every day is God’s. If you are one of His
children, your life is in His hands. He is taking you to where there is no more
time, but for now your time is His. If you want to fully follow His will (and
why would you not?), you will need to take time to rest. God’s creation example
to us is to rest. God didn’t need the rest, but it was an opportunity for Him
to, by example, reflect on all He had made. We need that time to renew
ourselves, as well as our relationship to Him.

And keep the Sabbath (your time of rest) Holy. God is Holy,
so be Holy in all you do! What is wrong to do on Sunday is wrong the rest of
the week. Don’t have two standards. Be the same on Monday that you are on the
Sabbath. Keep your time of rest holy! Whatever you do to unwind, do it to the
glory of God. Let others see the reflection on your face and know that you have
spent time with the Father. Your time of rest will renew your strength and keep
your heart pure.

Finally, look forward to the Sabbath rest (Hebrews 4). One
day Jesus is returning to redeem God’s people from this world of sin and
disappointment. He will wipe away our tears and clothe us with eternal joy. We
will enter our Sabbath rest. It means the final rest, the one for which
we have waited, the one where we share our inheritance with Jesus!

Sunday, August 23, 2015

Remember
the Sabbath day and keep it holy. 9 Six days you
shall labor and do all your work, 10 but the
seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do
any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, or your male servant, or your
female servant, or your livestock, or your sojourner who is within your
gates. 11 For in six days the Lord made
heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh
day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy. Exodus 20:8-11 MEV

Blue laws —known also as Sunday laws—are laws designed to restrict or ban
some or all Sunday activities for religious standards, particularly the
observance of a day of worship or rest. Blue laws may also restrict shopping or
ban sale of certain items on specific days, most often on Sundays in the
western world.

Jesus
went through the grain fields on the Sabbath. As they went, His disciples began
to pluck the heads of grain. The Pharisees said to Him, “Look, why are they
doing on the Sabbath what is not lawful?” He said to them, “Have you never read
what David did, when he and those who were with him were in need and hungry:
how he went into the house of God, in the days Abiathar was the high priest,
and ate the ritual bread, which is lawful only for the priests to eat, and also
gave it to those who were with him?” Then He said to them, “The Sabbath was
made for man, and not man for the Sabbath. So the Son of Man is Lord even of
the Sabbath.” Mark
2:23-28 MEV

1. The
Sabbath was not meant to restrict NECESSITIES(vs. 25-26)

And
he said to them, “Have you never read what David did, when he was in
need and was hungry, he and those who were with him: how he entered the house
of God, in the time of Abiathar the high priest, and
ate the bread of the Presence, which it is not lawful for any but the
priests to eat, and also gave it to those who were with him?” Mark 2:25-26

Example: David in fleeing from Saul (I Samuel
21:1-6) took five loaves of the showbread that was to be eaten only by the
priests and gave them to his men. The man of God, David was justified in
breaking the ceremonial law because his need for sustenance was greater than
keeping the ceremonial law. (He broke the ceremonial law not to indulge a lust
but to meet a genuine need) Meeting true human need and compassion takes
precedence over custom, ritual, ceremony and tradition.

Hosea
6:6 "For I desired mercy, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more
than burnt offerings."

"For
I desired mercy, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt
offerings." Hosea 6:6 MEV

2.
The Sabbath was made to SERVE MAN
not MANSERVE the day.

And he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man,
not man for the Sabbath. Mark 2:27

Sabbath - Shabbat is the original Hebrew word for our
English word sabbath. It means “to cease, to end, to rest.”

How should we observe the Sabbath? How does it apply to us, not apply to us?
Lots of questions emerge from the fourth commandment, so let’s read it
together. Let’s unpack it in order. So, let’s walk through it together:

Exodus 20:8–11: “Remember”—and
the “remember” here is to take something that is from the past so that it would
be living in the present and live on in the future. It’s not just a mental
remembrance; it’s celebrating and modeling that which has gone before us so
that it would have a future.

So, “Remember the Sabbath day.” Sabbath
means cessation of work or rest. “Your day off” would be our sort of common
vernacular for that.

“To
keep it holy.” Holiness is a hugely important concept. The
number one most frequently mentioned attribute of God in the whole Bible is
that he is holy. This means he is other, he’s different from us. So, we’re
sinful, he’s not, all right? We’re created, he’s eternal. We have to learn
things, he knows everything. He’s different from we are, so this concept of
holiness is that six days, we work. We do the same thing, we get up and go to
work. On the seventh day—it’s holy, it’s set apart, it’s different. It’s
different from the other six days.

So, one of the ways you know you’re violating the Sabbath
is if, over and over and over, seven days keep looking alike. If that’s the
case, you’re violating the Sabbath. If six days look alike and one day looks
different, you might be actually obeying the principle of the Sabbath.

“Six
days you shall labor, and do all your work.” Let me unpack this. A
lot of people say, “Oh, this is the commandment about the Sabbath.” It is about
the Sabbath, but it’s also about work, and this keeps us from twin idols. You
remember the first commandment is there’s one God. The second commandment is,
we only worship God—we don’t worship idols. We established that an idol is a
created thing. And some of us worship our work. We worship our job. And we’ll
make fun of the pagans who used to have sacrifices where they’d get an altar,
and they’d lay down a person or an animal, and slaughter it to the gods.

Well, sometimes our god is called “job” and sometimes our
sacrifice is called “health,” “marriage,” “children,” “family,” “church” or our
“day off.” Sometimes we can have job be god and we offer various sacrifices to
appease our god. So, this principle in the fourth commandment keeps us from
worshiping our job or worshiping our comfort.

In (Deuteronomy 5:12-15) the
Lord reminds His people that they had been slaves in Egypt and that He had
brought them out from there. In commanding them to observe the Sabbath, the
weekly rest would remind them of a time when as slaves they were unable to
rest.

This refers to the association between Israel's slavery in Egypt and the
Sabbath. Thus the name for our series:
The Ten Commandments: Set Free to Live Free…

Two of
the greatest needs of man are for rest and worship - neither, of which Israel
was free to do in Egypt.

Quote: Our
hearts are restless until they find rest in You. St. Augustine

God's original intent was for
the Sabbath to be a blessing not a burden. The Sabbath was to benefit man to
help him gain rest and to have a revived sense of God's presence.

"Rest
in the LORD, and wait patiently for him..." Psalms 37:7

3.
The Sabbath is NOT the Lord's Day.

No where in the New Testament
is the Christian commanded to observe the Sabbath. The Sabbath was essentially
Jewish, which explains, its absence in New Testament instructions to
Christians. The Sabbath was the sixth day - began at sunset Friday and ran
through sunset Saturday. The Lord's Day is the first day of the week
corresponding to our Sunday.

You and I can easily overlook
that unless you’ve got some Jewish friends or you’ve been to a place that is,
in large part, Jewish people.

And if you have any Jewish
friends that still really keep the Sabbath in a devout and strict way. They’re
not going to use any electricity, they’re going to use candles or leave the
lights on from the night before. They’re not going to eat any food that they
cooked that day, because they had to prep it the day before to make sure they
weren’t doing any work. They’re not going to travel a long distance. Even some
who are very devout will not open their refrigerator to get a snack unless
they’ve taken the light bulb out, because if you open the door and the light
bulb turns on, that could be a violation of the Sabbath.

We Gentiles don’t get this. Most of us are not really
committed too much of anything with that degree of devotion. It really hit me
when I was in Israel some years ago. When the Sabbath hit, which is Friday
night to Saturday night, sundown to sundown, everything was shut down. You
couldn’t get a cab, businesses were closed, you couldn’t transact business,
nothing could get done because everything literally stopped, and everything
changed.

Example: THE JESUS ELEVATOR

The early church set aside the
Lord's Day as a day of rest, worship, and celebration of Christ's resurrection.

On
the first day of the week, when the disciples came together, to break bread,
Paul, ready to leave the next day, preached to them and continued his message until
midnight. Acts 20:7 MEV

On
the first day of the week let every one of you lay in store, as God has
prospered him, so that no collections be made when I come. 1
Corinthians 16:2 MEV

I
was in the Spirit on the Lord’s Day, and I heard behind me a great voice like a
trumpet… Revelation 1:10 MEV

4. Christ
is the LORD of the Sabbath and EVERY day!

Jesus is the great Creator of the universe. All
things were made by Him and without Him was not anything made that was made. He
created the heaven and earth and all things in six days. He sanctified the
seventh day and made it the day of rest. He is the Lord of the Sabbath. In
affirming His Deity, Christ declares He is Lord and is greater than the
Sabbath. He therefore has the right to overrule man-made rules and tradition.

Therefore
let no one judge you regarding food, or drink, or in respect of a holy day or
new moon or Sabbath days.These are shadows of things to
come, but the substance belongs to Christ.
Colossians 2:16-17 MEV

5.
The rhythm of setting aside a time each week to REST and WORSHIP is biblically sound.

The important thing is that we set aside time for rest and
worship. These are two things we desperately need. As human beings, our Creator
did not design us to work seven days a week. Our bodies and souls both need
rest, and taking off one day out every seven is good for us. Those of us with
workaholic tendencies may find it difficult to get into the habit of a
regularly scheduled day off, but we need it. It should always be something to
which we look forward.

Every day as believers we should take
time to read the Bible, pray, and express our praise to God. But, it is
important to have at least one day in seven, which we set aside so that we can
have an extended time to worship and focus upon the Lord both corporately and
individually

Let
us not forsake the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some,
but let us exhort one another, especially as you see the Day approaching. Hebrews 3:20 MEV

Quote: Warren Wiersbe - The ability to calm your soul and wait before
God is one of the most difficult things in the Christian life. Our old nature
is restless...the world around us is frantically in a hurry. But a restless
heart usually leads to a reckless life.

Conclusion: Christ as Lord of the Sabbath
offers true rest to whoever comes to Him.

“Come
to Me, all you who labor and are heavily burdened, and I will give you
rest. Take My yoke upon you, and learn from Me. For I am meek and lowly in
heart, and you will find rest for your souls.For My yoke is easy, and My
burden is light.” Matthew 11:28-30

As
the Sabbath gave Israel the opportunity to celebrate the freedom and rest from
slavery in Egypt; so the Lord's day provides an opportunity to celebrate the
freedom and rest from the slavery of sin that comes through a personal
relationship with Jesus Christ.

Rick and Sharron Hudgens

About Me

I am privileged to be a servant of the Lord God Almighty on High. God has blessed me with a beautiful wife, Sharron, two twin daughters, Danielle and Stephanie, a great son-in-law, Josh (married to Stephanie), and my first granddaughter, Alyse Nicole. In October 2009 Danielle married Jessie Bolder and we welcome Jessie and our new grand daughter Jayden into our family. On April 16, 2010 Danielle gave birth to Jordan Richard Bolder - our first grand son. A few weeks later on May 7th Stephanie gave birth to Breeley May. The latest update is the our daughter Stephanie gave birth to Cammie Lynley on July 12, 2013. Sharron and I are blessed people.